| Treasures of Catherine the Great |
| The Hermitage
Rooms in the newly restored Somerset House in London offer visitors an introduction
to Russia's premier museum, The
Hermitage in Leningrad, one of the world's greatest museums. The Hermitage
Rooms will stage regular exhibitions of Hermitage treasures. The first exhibition, Treasures of Catherine the Great, honours Catherine (1729-96) who, besides ruling Russia, was one of the great collectors of all time, accumulating over 4,000 Master paintings, medals, jewellery and sculpture. She is regarded as the founder and presiding genius of the Hermitage Museum. This London exhibition gives an intimate picture of her personal possessions. In gold, we start with a great medallion struck for her coronation in 1762, another for the inauguration of the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg in 1765, and then a host of gold medals honouring her lovers, generals, the Russian navy, her travels, a peace treaty and, finally, one marking her death. The story of her reign commemorated in gold. Among her possessions are gold tableware for her journeys, a gold perfume bottle, a lady-in-waiting's badge in gold, silver and diamonds, ornate chatelaines (keyrings) of gold and precious stones, gold snuff boxes adorned with miniatures of her grandchildren, gold watches and clocks and two gold altar statues of Chinese gods. Finally, there is a unique collection of Chinese gold jewellery, dating from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and early Qing dynasty thereafter, which were brought to Russia from China as diplomatic gifts. Gold hairpins are adorned with flying birds, a hat ornament is a golden vase filled with flowers, a pendant is decorated with a cheerful figure surrounded by flying bats, cranes and deer. Another pendant in gold and gold filigree depicts a chubby boy riding a mythical Qilin that has the head of a lion and the body of a horse, with a sensational twirl of a golden tail. This is an exhibition that astonishes with the skills of goldsmiths from Europe and the Orient.
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